Ihor Kolomojskyi is one of the richest people in Ukraine – and sat in the courtroom at the weekend. The oligarch is accused of fraud and money laundering. Ironically, anti-corruption activists are concerned.
Ihor Kolomojskyj enters the courtroom in a blue training suit from FK Dnipro. At the weekend, the entrepreneur was arrested by the Ukrainian secret service SBU on suspicion of fraud and money laundering.
Kolomojskyj was once one of the most powerful oligarchs in the country, anti-corruption activist Olena Haluschka explains: “He is notorious in Ukraine for one of the biggest bank fraud cases – the case of the private bank Bank settled.”
But not only that: Kolomoiskyi’s influential TV channel also played a major role in the election campaign of the current President of Ukraine. But Volodymyr Zelensky has distanced himself from the oligarch for years.
Selenskyj is resolute
After the arrest at the weekend, the President promised the people of Ukraine that different rules would prevail in the future: “There will undoubtedly be no more decades of ‘business as usual’ for those who plundered Ukraine and put themselves above the law and any rules have.”
In his video speech, Zelenskyy thanked law enforcement agencies for their determination. The President wants to legally equate corruption during the Russian war of aggression with high treason in the future. A corresponding draft law is to be presented to Parliament this week – but nobody has seen it yet.
Criticism from the EU Parliament
What initially sounds good is met with sharp criticism – also in the West. MEP Michael Gahler says: “It is unnecessary to shift the fight against corruption from existing institutions to the secret service during the war, by labeling corruption as high treason.”
What is the secret service planning?
Kolomoiskyi’s arrest has pleased many people in Ukraine, but at the same time worries anti-corruption activists. Because the investigations run through the secret service SBU and not through the independent anti-corruption authorities of Ukraine.
The secret service actually has other tasks, emphasizes Olena Haluschka. “We fear that with this investigation the secret service is trying to show that it can pursue corruption cases. This will help to justify before Parliament why the SBU should be tasked with such high-profile cases in the future.”
Observers fear that the painstakingly built anti-corruption authorities in Ukraine could be disempowered as a result. If corruption is declared to be high treason, the secret service could be responsible for the investigations, many fear. However, he is not independent, but reports to the President.
worried anticorruption activists
Haluschka fears that many members of parliament have an interest in this: “Unfortunately, there are many people in parliament who are interested in weakening the anti-corruption authorities. There are people who are being investigated.” The activists want to increase pressure on the president to prevent a vote on the bill.
Oligarch Kolomojskyj can meanwhile be released on bail. But the Russian war of aggression has shifted the balance of power – Kolomojskyj is currently unable to exert his old influence on politics and the economy.